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Recent technical developments that allow scanning of the entire genome have increased the power of association studies, which can now extend beyond specific candidate genes. In a genome-wide association study, researchers pooled DNA samples from an NIMH cohort of 461 bipolar patients and 563 controls to examine 550,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). They identified 34,000 SNPs that differed significantly between groups.
The researchers focused on the 1877 SNPs with an odds ratio of at least 1.4, an allele frequency of at least 5%, and a location in or near known genes, and examined their frequency in 772 bipolar patients and 876 controls from Germany.
Eighty-eight SNPs showed significant patient-control differences; 37 were individua…